KKK Dynamites Killed 4 Girls at This Alabama Church & Created a Civil Rights Symbol

The 16th Street Baptist Church, Alabama

First Colored Baptist Church formed in Birmingham in 1873, just two years after the city’s founding.

The congregation first met in a small building at 12th Street and Fourth Avenue North. In 1880, they moved to their current location at 16th Street and 6th Avenue North.

As Birmingham’s first Black church, it provided essential community space during decades of segregation.

African Americans had few public gathering options in a city with strict racial divisions. The modest beginning grew into a cornerstone institution of Black life in Birmingham.

A Church Designed by Black Excellence

Wallace Rayfield received the commission to design a new church in 1908.

He brought formal training from Howard University and Pratt Institute as Alabama’s only Black architect.

Birmingham officials had ordered demolition of the congregation’s 1884 building without legitimate cause.

T.C. Windham, a Black contractor and church member, supervised construction of the $26,000 structure. His team completed the building in 1911.

Rayfield chose a Romanesque and Byzantine design with twin towers, pointed domes, and a cupola above the sanctuary.

More Than Just a House of Worship

The church functioned as Birmingham’s Black community hub during strict segregation. Black citizens lacked access to public meeting halls throughout the city.

W.E.B. Du Bois spoke from its pulpit during visits to Birmingham. Mary McLeod Bethune, Paul Robeson, and Ralph Bunche also addressed congregants.

African Americans traveled from neighboring towns for programs at what became known as “everybody’s church.”

Cultural events, educational programs, and community celebrations filled its calendar beyond Sunday services.

The Church at the Center of Civil Rights

Birmingham earned a reputation as America’s most segregated city by the 1960s.

Civil rights leaders targeted it as a crucial battleground for racial equality. Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth held planning meetings at 16th Street Baptist.

Martin Luther King Jr. spoke frequently from its pulpit during strategy sessions. The central downtown location made it ideal for protest coordination.

Demonstrators gathered here before marching to commercial districts and municipal buildings.

James Bevel taught nonviolent resistance tactics to participants within these walls.

The Children’s Crusade Begins

More than one thousand students arrived at 16th Street Baptist on May 2, 1963. They skipped school to join what became known as the Children’s Crusade.

James Bevel developed this strategy when adult protest numbers declined. Children faced fewer economic repercussions than adults who risked losing jobs.

Young people aged eight to eighteen filled the sanctuary. They received training in nonviolent protest methods before marching downtown.

The goal was to speak directly with Birmingham’s mayor about ending segregation.

Birmingham Fights Back with Fire Hoses and Dogs

Police Commissioner Bull Connor ordered officers to block the marchers. They arrested hundreds of children on the first day and transported them to jail in school buses.

When more students marched the next day, Connor escalated his tactics. Police aimed high-pressure fire hoses directly at children’s bodies.

Attack dogs lunged at young protesters while officers wielded batons. The water pressure slammed children against buildings and tore clothing from their bodies.

News cameras captured these brutal scenes for Americans watching evening news programs.

Bombing as Retaliation

Klan member Robert Chambliss told his niece days before the attack, “Wait until Sunday morning and they’ll beg us to let them segregate.”

Four men from a local Ku Klux Klan chapter planted nineteen sticks of dynamite beneath the church’s east steps on September 15, 1963.

They attached a timing device set for Sunday morning. At 10:22 a.m., the explosion tore through the church wall.

The blast shattered stained glass windows and collapsed interior walls. The bombing occurred minutes before Youth Day services.

Four Young Girls Lost Their Lives

Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley prepared for Sunday service in the basement ladies’ room.

They were changing into choir robes when the bomb exploded.

Denise was eleven years old. Addie Mae, Carole, and Cynthia were fourteen. Sarah Collins, Addie Mae’s sister, survived but lost her right eye.

More than twenty other church members suffered injuries. The bombing killed innocent children in a sacred space on a holy day.

A Nation Awakens to Injustice

News of the bombing shocked people worldwide. The murder of four young girls crystallized the evil of racism in unprecedented ways.

Martin Luther King Jr. delivered the eulogy at a funeral attended by over 8,000 mourners. White citizens across America could no longer ignore southern racism’s brutal reality.

Birmingham’s white leaders acknowledged the bombing damaged the city’s reputation permanently, and the tragedy galvanized support for civil rights legislation.

President Kennedy found new momentum for his proposed civil rights bill.

The Wales Window for Alabama

John Petts, a Welsh artist, read about the bombing in his newspaper.

From his home in Llansteffan, Wales, 4,000 miles away, he offered to create a replacement window.

Petts designed a stained glass window showing a Black Christ figure with arms outstretched. His right hand pushes away hatred while his left offers forgiveness.

The Western Mail newspaper gathered donations across Wales.

They limited individual contributions to ensure broad participation. Installed in 1965, the window bears the inscription “You do it to Me.”

Justice Delayed but Not Denied

FBI investigators identified four suspects but secured no immediate convictions.

Evidence against Robert Chambliss, Thomas Blanton, Bobby Frank Cherry, and Herman Cash remained sealed for years.

Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley reopened the case in the 1970s. In 1977, a jury convicted Chambliss of murder, fourteen years after the bombing.

Thomas Blanton received a life sentence in 2001. Bobby Frank Cherry faced justice in 2002. Herman Cash died in 1994 without ever standing trial.

Visiting the 16th Street Baptist Church

Find the church at 1530 6th Avenue North in downtown Birmingham.

This active congregation welcomes visitors while maintaining its primary purpose as a house of worship. Tours run Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.

Contact the church before visiting to check for special events or service times.

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